ABSTRACT
Chapter 8 examines the law of the sea from the historical perspective including its most successful codification, i.e., the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC). It explains the concept of baselines. It discusses a coastal State’s jurisdiction to prescribe and to enforce its laws and regulations in each maritime zone. The chapter analyses freedoms that all States enjoy at the high seas. It discusses exceptions to the principle that vessels on the high seas are subject to the authority of the State whose flag they fly. It analyses the methods which are used to delimit maritime zones of a coastal State, and therefore focuses on Article 15 of LOSC with regard to the delimitation of the territorial waters; on the corrective equity approach relevant to the delimitation of maritime zones beyond the territorial waters but not exceeding 200 nautical miles from the baseline; and, the competence of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to deal with a coastal State’s claim to the legal title to a natural prolongation of its continental shelf in the event that the outer edge of the continental margin extends beyond 200 nm. It assesses the powers of the International Seabed Authority over “the Area” and the system set up by the LOSC for settlement of disputes concerning the application and interpretation of its provisions.
